Jake Tapper Spanks The Media For Swooning Over North Korea

CNN’s Jake Tapper surprised everyone this weekend by trolling his own network and other media outlets for drooling over North Korea at the Olympics. Tapper tweeted: “If you hate US leaders more than you hate the Kim Jong-un regime, you really need to read up on North Korea.” That’s exactly right and spot on. CNN was mocked along with the New York Times and other media outlets this weekend for doing puff pieces and fawning over Kim Jong-Un’s sister. It was an Eva Braun moment. He also attached three links to websites that highlight various human rights violations that North Koreans face on a regular basis. Good for Tapper.

Human Rights Watch had this to say about North Korea:

Under the rule of Kim Jong-Un, North Korea remains among the world’s most repressive countries. All basic freedoms have been severely restricted under the Kim family’s political dynasty. A 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry found that abuses in North Korea were without parallel in the contemporary world. They include extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. North Korea operates secretive prison camps where perceived opponents of the government are sent to face torture and abuse, starvation rations, and forced labor. Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent. There is no independent media, functioning civil society, or religious freedom.

At the center of this media propagandic love-fest is the brutal dictator’s sister, Kim Yo Jong. She was seated at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea right behind Vice President Mike Pence and his lovely wife. CNN claimed that Kim Yo Jong was “stealing the show.” The article came out Saturday afternoon and the blowback over it was massively intense. Yo Jong invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit North Korea. “If ‘diplomatic dance’ were an event at the Winter Olympics, Kim Jong-Un’s younger sister would be favored to win gold. With a smile, a handshake and a warm message in South Korea’s presidential guest book, Kim Yo Jong has struck a chord with the public just one day into the Pyeongchang Games.”

The Daily Mail and The Washington Post unbelievably called Kim Yo Jong a “political princess.” WaPo also called her the “Ivanka Trump of North Korea.” That’s just insanely offensive. Politico subtly criticized Otto Warbier’s father for not buying North Korea’s Olympic spirit. They murdered his son! What is wrong with you?!

If you hate US leaders more than you hate the Kim Jong-un regime, you really need to read up on North Korea.

It should be noted that in intelligence circles it is widely known that Yo Jong is Kim’s closest confidant and one of the very few around him he trusts. It should also be noted that rumor has it she’s even crazier than her brother. That’s not a family you want to belong to. Kim Jong-Un just recently had his brother assassinated. Torture, murder, rape, gulags and starvation are all pastimes in the Hermit Kingdom. Which makes the media’s fawning over the dictatorship even more reprehensible if that’s even possible. CNN didn’t respond to Tapper’s comments and he was not made available for comment either over all of this.

The puff piece from CNN barely referenced the murderous ways of North Korea and critics all over social media called them out for it. People were repulsed and furious over the media crawling into bed with a monstrous dictator like Kim Jong-Un. And you can’t separate his sister from all of this. She is the head of the propaganda ministry for the Communist Party in North Korea. CNN has not taken down its story and even other individuals in the media are disgusted by it. Tapper also retweeted a message from CNN contributor and New York Post columnist Salena Zito that said, “I am deeply saddened by how my profession has normalized and glamorized this murderous regime… And then we wonder why no one trusts us.” Excellent point and very astute.

I am deeply saddened by how my profession has normalized and glamorized this murderous regime. And then we wonder why no one trusts us. pic.twitter.com/pMKVPEvOWP

CNN’s pro-Kim Yo Jong story was widely panned by media members on both sides of the political aisle. She is an increasingly prominent figure in her brother’s government and the first member of the North’s ruling family to visit the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The media was entranced with her giving Pence dirty looks. Then they were enraptured by North Korea’s cheerleaders. They don’t seem to get these women were picked for their looks are slaves to a vicious regime. The New York Times, NBC and Reuters are among other news organizations that were criticized for glorifying North Korea over the weekend as the Pyeongchang Games kicked off, but Tapper was presumably aware of the backlash CNN had already received when he sent his tweet. Respect.

A report by ABC News read, “Clad in coordinated outfits of red with white and blue accents, North Korea’s throng of more than 200 cheerleaders are stealing the spotlight at the 23rd Winter Olympic Games in South Korea as they chant, sway and dance in unison.” A North Korean defector, 26 year-old Hee Yeon Lim, recently alleged in a media interview that Kim Jong-Un keeps teenage sex slaves whom he takes from schools, enjoys a luxury lifestyle while his people starve and forces children to watch public executions. But swoon away, ABC!

In 2016, a report by the UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide revealed the gruesome methods the communist government in North Korea has used to torture and kill Christians. “Documented incidents against Christians include being hung on a cross over a fire, crushed under a steamroller, herded off bridges and trampled underfoot. A policy of guilt by association applies, meaning that the relatives of Christians are also detained regardless of whether they share the Christian belief.”

Many on social media urged Tapper to inform his CNN colleagues that Kim Yo Jong shouldn’t be glorified. When Fox News reached out for comment, CNN would not say whether it would remove the story or discipline any editors over the controversial article. Figures. North Korea’s “Princess” Kim Yo Jong is a central part of her family’s role in a massive, ongoing system of political oppression that has tortured and killed millions over decades. And our media loves it.

Thank you, Jake. I am thankful that Americans are free to criticize aspects of American life. Indeed, criticism of existing problems has often been what has led America forward…but we need to take a step back if our criticism leads us to presenting N. Korea as superior to USA.